Wind-Blade Reflections
by Thaeonblade
Summary: A touch of wind was all it took for Naruto to end the Avenger's Senseless Rage. Now that Sasuke was gone, it was left for Naruto, Team 7 and the Konoha 12 to pick up the pieces and continue. It hurt, but the members of Team 7 knew that things between them would never be the same. With their common goal finished what was left to hold their bond together? Starts after Chapter 484.
1. Chapter 1

**Copyright: Take what you will from this, but I own nothing...sadly...**

* * *

How troublesome.

"Why are we bringing the kid along again?"

"I'm not a kid!"

"You're short that counts enough."

"Because if we turn back now then we might as well abort the mission." Neji answered Shikamaru while they hopped through unknown territory alongside Hinata, Shino, Ino, Choji, Tenten and the recently discovered Konohamaru, "But I warn you child. You will obey every order that we give you or you'll be a genin for the rest of your life."

"Big deal. Naruto's still a genin and that's not stopping him. Kore!" Clearly the boy had learned more from Naruto then just perversion, "But I understand! I just want to make sure that Nii-chan's okay!"

"So do we..." Hinata agreed and spotted something with her active Byakugan, "We're getting close! I see Kakashi and Sakura's chakra...and Naruto-kun's!"

"Anything else?"

"A smaller chakra signature that I don't recognize and...a very dark chakra...potent, but weakening."

"Thank you Hinata." Neji shouted back and activated his byakugan. Though his range was not as far as Hinata's, it did suffice to ensure that Danzo or Akatsuki didn't have any other surprises waiting for them, "Tenten! I see Lee with Kiba and Sai! Take Ino and Choji to ensure that they are alright! Everyone else, stay in formation and stay ready."

* * *

The entire situation stank.

Naruto could clearly see it now. He could see why everyone had told him to forget about Sasuke, why he was seen as a criminal.

Because that was what he was now. A criminal.

He had nearly killed Sakura twice and was now madly ranting about destroying Konoha for something that no one knew about.

Naruto and Kakashi had known the truth about the Uchiha massacre thanks to Madara and though doubted if it was true, it seemed true enough for Sasuke. He had already killed one of the village elders, Danzo. Granted, Naruto hated the man and Konoha was honestly better off without him, but that wasn't the point. Sasuke had truly become an avenger, just like Madara had said.

Only he was an avenger that would leave nothing left.

"Guess I was a fool..." Naruto said as he finished adding the wind chakra to the rasengan forming in his hands and prepared to meet Sasuke's chidori just like they had three years ago, "Sasuke...believe it or not...I understand why you're doing this."

"This again?" Sasuke laughed, the song of a thousand birds chirping from his lightning charged arm, "Either give up or get out of my way."

"Had things been a little different...our places would have been reversed."

"I'll admit...your life must've been tough with the Kyubi inside of you." Sasuke readied himself, there would be turning back for him, "But don't think that you can compare to me."

"You're right." Now finished, Naruto dispelled his shadow clone and took initiative as he darted for Sasuke, "YOU'VE NEVER BEEN IN MY LEAGUE!"

"IS THAT A JOKE?" Sasuke roared when he launched himself forward, "CAUSE I'M NOT LAUGHING!"

"RASENGAN!"

"CHIDORI!"

Just like they had three years ago, the two former friends clashed their signature techniques into each other. One resolved to leap into the darkness and the other determined to prevent the fall.

This time, the result was much different.

This time, Naruto's S-Ranked Wind bladed Rasengan easily sliced through the lightning based chakra of Sasuke's A-Ranked Chidori and enabled the Hyperactive genin to slam his Rasengan into Sasuke's chest. Blades of wind erupted from the rotating orb of condensed chakra as Sasuke screamed in sheer pain while Naruto remained completely silent. Naruto then exerted the last ounce of Sage energy that he had gathered before coming here and used it to propel the rasengan forward and take Sasuke with it.

Sasuke was thrown across the lake, leaving behind a thick trail of blood as the rasengan continued to pummel and cut him. By the time the rasengan dissipated a few seconds later, the lake had calmed and Sasuke was floating upon it's surface.

"It's over..." Sasuke's body lifelessly floated with the waves, the Uchiha's lifeless eyes still marked with shock and terror from the last few moments of his life, "Good bye Sasuke."

"Naruto..." Naruto turned from the corpse of his comrade and walked towards where his solemn sensei and his teammate were waiting nearby, "I'm sorry that it had to come to this."

"So am I sensei..." Maybe there was a better way to resolve this, but Naruto couldn't take that chance. The village would have enough problems with Akatsuki and Madara, but Sasuke threatened to break the camel's back. His refusal to renounce his obsession with revenge was a choice that he had made with full knowledge. Just like with every other choice he had made up to this point.

He choose to go with the Sound Four to Orochimaru.

Choose to keep going despite the "rescue" made to save him.

Choose to try to kill Naruto multiple times in the Valley of the End.

Choose to attack the team when they tried to retrieve him in Orochimaru's hideout.

Choose not to return after killing Orochimaru.

Choose to join Akatsuki after killing Itachi.

Choose to help Akatsuki by capturing the Eight-Tails Jinchuuruki.

Choose to attack the Kages at the Summit just to get Danzo.

Choose to wound his own comrade.

And now he tried to kill Kakashi and Sakura.

Naruto didn't kill Sasuke. All he had done was destroy the sad mindless shell that he had become.

But that wasn't the only burden that Naruto felt like lifting from his shoulders.

"Sakura." Naruto tossed his teammate the kunai that Sasuke had tried to kill her with and merely looked into her eyes, "How did Sasuke take this from you?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Curious that's all..." Naruto admitted though a glance from Kakashi confirmed his irritation, "You did the same thing that I did back in the Valley. Back when neither of us knew better."

"What do you mean?"

"I could've taken out Sasuke back then...but I didn't want to hurt him. He didn't think the same way..." Naruto laughed while rubbing the spot on his chest where the scar from that battle still ached, "But we're not kids now Sakura...you knew what he had done...you saw what he did to his teammate didn't you?"

"He was our friend once-"

"Sasuke was almost completely blind, drained and exhausted from fighting Kakashi-sensei and Danzo." Maybe he wasn't being fair to Sakura, but at the moment he really didn't care, "Weren't you trained by baa-san? Aren't you supposed to be the smartest of us? Can't you put craters in mountains? You clabbered a whole army of Sasori's puppets and his Third Kazekage puppet...but I had to save you from a blind man? A blind man disarmed you and nearly killed you?"

"Naruto...I-"

"How do you fuck that up?"

"I'm sorry-"

"HOW DO YOU FUCK THAT UP!" He roared right in his teammate's face. As he heavily breathed, he saw Sakura's face tear up and then she began to cry. Considering his track record with Sasuke, maybe he didn't have any room to lash out at her like that. But after the confession, "I'm done...I'm going home."

"You're cut. Let me help-"

"Stop helping Sakura...it only makes things worst." He walked past the sobbing Sakura and leapt up to where Sasuke's comrade had been watching the entire scene. He gave one look at her and then turned to leave just as his face felt like it was burning.

As he heard himself growl, Naruto felt consciousness get stolen from him by the poison on Sakura's kunai...

* * *

"Damn...I was this close to deciding to save you." The orange masked observer mused while watching the aftermath of the Avenger's demise. His puppet was fun for a little while, but he pushed his luck too far. Now the Avenger's slayer was convulsing on the ruined bridge as a result of the hesitation of Uzamaki's medical comrade.

He could have gone down and recovered Sasuke's body, but it was not a pressing matter. Besides, the rest of Uzamaki's class were already arriving on the scene and the observer still needed to replace his arm before he attempted to face the full might of the Konoha 12 plus two jonin and a surprisingly talented stowaway genin.

"What do you want to do Tobi?" White Zetsu asked while Tobi watched The Root agent finish covering Sasuke's body in wrappings made from ink and sealing him within a caligraphy scroll.

"Unfortunate, but it is not a total loss. Contact Crimson Moon." Tobi ordered as his sharingan activated, "When I return from Ame, I will require an Uzamaki..."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Before going any further into this short story, I have to make a few things clear.**

**1) While I'm not the biggest fan of Sakura, I'm also not trying to unfairly bash her. It really is objectively stupid for her to nearly be killed twice in a row by a blind, drained and exhausted enemy even if it was her friend. She's supposed to be Tsunade's apprentice and close to an S-rank shinobi. There there's her false confession, attempting to go after Sasuke at all without telling anyone and gassing her teammates because she clearly wouldn't need their help.**

**2) It always bugs me that Naruto never uses the Wind Release: Rasengan even though it's fairly easy to create. (I'm not talking about the Rasenshuriken, I mean the wind rasengan that overpowered Kakashi's rasengan) And seeing that Wind beats Lightning, then the result between the Wind Rasengan and the Chidori should be pretty easy to guess.**

**3) I don't hate Sasuke and I'm not trying to make him look weak. I just don't think that he would've stood a chance if Naruto decided to waste him after his fight with Kakashi. This is Sasuke at his lowest point and Naruto's maturity just suffers every time he refuses to deal with him in the most pragmatic way. The Cycle of Hatred doesn't really apply here because Sasuke is a clear aggressor who intends to wipe out Konoha for the crimes of three people and is getting more deranged as he goes along.**

**In fact, it took intervention from Zombie Itachi for Sasuke to return to the Light.**

**So there.**

**Don't worry, I plan to have Naruto and Sakura reconcile eventually, but it's not going to be a smooth transition. Things are going to be very different between them. And before you ask, no this is not a NaruSaku fic. Because ask yourself one simple question: Why would you want to be with a girl whose false love confession was spent making you the silver medal to the bad boy that she couldn't get? Especially after what she does after you call her out on her bullshit?**

**I'm not trying to be unfair to Sakura, but it's just not happening in this story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Copyright: Take what you will from this, but I own nothing...sadly...**

* * *

"You're awake."

"Where am I?"

"A warm wood-cabin donated to us by Yamato." Kakashi answered the tired and drowsy Naruto, "A heavy storm hit the area and we decided to take shelter for a day or so. Plus, you needed time to recover from your wound."

"What wound? I took out Sasuke before-" Naruto glowered as he recalled the kunai that had cut across his face when he saved Sakura from Sasuke. A kunai that Sasuke had taken from Sakura, "Oh...she poisoned it."

"At first I thought that nothing Sakura used would've worked on Sasuke thanks to Orochimaru's training. But I guess I was wrong...that mitochondrial toxin would've killed most people within moments including Sasuke." "We had to move quickly before the toxin ate away your blood cells. Sasuke's comrade owed us a debt and was rather happy to repay it."

"Guess I'll have to thank her-"

"And Sakura for administering the antidote." Kakashi added while Naruto frowned, "How does it taste?"

"My own words?" As much as he hated to admit it, Sakura had just saved his life. Even after he told her to stop helping him, "Bad milk I guess."

"You'd know all about that." Naruto couldn't believe that his sensei still remembered the bad milk incident before the team had their first exercise, "Not that I don't understand how you feel."

"Sasuke's body-"

"Sai's holding onto it." Kakashi answered, bringing up a topic that both student and sensei were not eager to reopen, "I am sorry that it had to come to that."

"He didn't leave us any other choice."

"It's easy to say that, but how do you feel?"

"Probably the same way he felt when he killed Itachi..." Naruto said, thinking back to the secret that Madara had told him before revealing the Curse of Hatred that had afflicted Sasuke, "Did I make a mistake sensei?"

"No. You've merely made a heavy decision." Kakashi answered his student, "Right or wrong, a shinobi will find themselves faced with choices that will be heavy regardless of the action taken. Even if you made the best possible choice, the consequences of that action will weigh on you. It is the ugly truth of the shinobi world."

"I gave up on him..."

"If you had given up, then you would have allowed someone else to kill him. But you took the burden for yourself, just like the Shodai Hokage did against Madara...like I had done with Obito." Naruto's attention perked up upon mention of the first hokage and a name that Naruto had briefly seen on the Konoha Memorial Stone, "They were friends once...but when Madara betrayed the village, Senju Hashirama was left with no choice but to fight him. What you did with Sasuke is no different."

"Except...Sasuke's really dead..." Naruto muttered with wet eyes that were already beginning to leak, "Whose Obito? Is he the guy you always visit at the Memorial?"

"He was my squadmate under the Yondaime...your father." Naruto still had to get used to that idea. His father was the Yondaime Hokage and Kakashi had learned under him. It was a warm kind of strange, but warm nonetheless, "On my first mission as a jonin, I made a terrible call and our medical teammate Rin was captured. I wanted to continue with the mission, but Obito insisted on going after her and we split up. I changed my mind and got there in time to help Obito and lost my eye for my tardiness."

"So that sharingan is..."

"Obito's.." Kakashi heavily confirmed, "After we saved Rin, our enemy triggered an avalanche...since I was missing an eye, I was nearly crushed. But Obito saved me and was crushed under a large boulder...it was a miracle that he was even alive to speak. We tried to save him, but there wasn't enough time...I still remember all of the blood that was leaking out from under that rock..."

"So he gave you his sharingan to help you escape." Kakashi nodded to Naruto's guess and another question began to form in his mind, "What happened to Rin?"

"I killed her..." Kakashi answered to Naruto's complete and utter shock, "Now you understand why I wanted to kill Sasuke in your place? I've already carried the burden of a comrade's death since before you were born..."

"What happened?"

"I didn't have a choice in the matter. A few months later, Rin and I were part of a taskforce sent to investigate a command post in the Land of Water that hadn't been reported back when they were supposed to. When we got there, we found our comrades safe and decided to rest before leaving. Unfortunately, those comrades were actually Kiri Anbu who had disguised themselves as Konoha shinobi and completely took us by surprise at night. Out of the forty of us...only eight got out that attack alive and in one piece."

"And Rin?"

"Somewhat of a tragic pattern...I had overused my sharingan while fighting the Kiri ANBU and nearly collapsed from chakra exhaustion. Rin restored my chakra at the cost of her own and used a genjutsu to force me to leave her." Kakashi recalled as a tear flowed from both of his eyes, "When the survivors regrouped, the genjutsu was dispelled and I immediately wanted to save Rin. When everyone else made it clear that they were going to return to the village, I left to help Rin on my own."

"Tracking her was easy...in fact, it was too easy. But I didn't care, all that mattered was saving Rin." The Copy Cat Jonin used a thumb to wipe a tear from his right eye before he continued, "When I finally found her, she was begging me to kill her. She said that the Kiri Anbu wanted to use her to destroy Konoha. I refused and tore through any Kiri Anbu that stood in my way. We made our way to a swamp and an ANBU shot Rin in the back with a crossbow. It enraged me...so I charged a Raikiri and darted at him..."

Naruto said nothing though what came next was easy enough to guess.

"She leapt into my path...it was too late to stop." Kakashi's right arm tightened as if constricted by a shackle, "Obito's sharigan began to act up and the last thing that I saw were the Kiri ANBU standing over me as if the air around them was beginning to distort..When I woke up, I was lying next to Rin's body surrounded by mangled and twisted pieces of meat that used to be people. Guy and your father arrived just as my mind fractured...my arm still caked in Rin's blood...blood flowing from the sharingan."

"Is that when it became a Mangkeyo?"

"Yeah...but it wasn't until recently that I ever felt right about using it." Kakashi explained and exhaled through his mask, "The burden of my comrade's deaths still haunt me to this day...even knowing what happened, happened the way that it had to happen. What you're feeling now, is the burden of choice...the burden of a shinobi."

"And I thought I was done with luggage."

"It gets easier with time...as you become stronger..." Kakashi assured Naruto, "You're already much stronger than me...as unfair as your life has been, I may have cracked a long time ago. The Kyubi, Akatsuki, The War, Sasuke..."

"Sakura..."

"Her actions may seem hopelessly stupid, but she was trying to do the best that she could...she's always struggled with how to do it." Seeing that Naruto was unconvinced, Kakashi figured that now wasn't a good time to try and act as mediator between Naruto and Sakura, at least overtly, "I'm not excusing what she did, but she does care you. Just try to listen to her, try to see things from her perspective."

"Once she figures out what that perspective is...I'm all ears."

"Alright, I'll leave you to rest."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

"He's going to be okay." Kakashi reported to the waiting members of the Konoha 12, plus Yamato and the stowaway Konohamaru, "The antidote has gotten him out of the worst of the danger. But he still needs plenty of rest."

"I'm glad Naruto-kun is alright..."

"Troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered though he was clearly relieved to hear of Naruto's well-being, "And it doesn't look like the storm will let up for a few days."

"It's not an ordinary storm." Shino remarked, standing near a window where the torrential rain could be seen pouring down on nature outside, "None of my Kikaichu have managed to survive in the open rain. It's laced with chakra."

"He's right." Neji confirmed, his eyes strained from how often he had used his clan's technique, "Every drop of rain has chakra within it and it's heavy with it."

"What kind of jutsu is this?"

"It's not a jutsu..." Kiba answered Lee, "The Land of Iron's located right in between all five shinobi nations. The weather on the borderlands is supposed to be all over the place and that's why it's raining."

"What Kiba means is that the Land of Iron has had the lands close to it's borders in constant weather flux." Kakashi clarified, "No one is sure why, but legend has it that a fight broke out between the Kages when they met during the First Ninja War. As a result, each area of the land is forever altered and prone to weather made more dangerous by the leftover chakra of that clash. In addition...particularly large usages of chakra can trigger events like this at times. Which makes this a much more ideal neutral ground for negotiation between shinobi villages."

"Which means that this storm was caused by Sasuke's attack on the Summit and his battle with Danzo, Kakashi and Naruto?"

"Sparked would be a better word, if the legend is true."

"Well great job Billow-brow!" Ino sarcastically complimented the quiet Sakura, "We're stuck in the middle of a chakra-charged monsoon because you wanted to be the heroine! Thanks a lot!"

"No one asked you to be out here..."

"Leave Sakura alone, Ino...She's worried about Naruto-"

"She's the one who put him in there." Ino reminded Hinata as Sakura rubbed her forehead, "I'm surprised that you're defending her. She did try to take Naruto from you right behind your back."

"Naruto isn't mine..." Hinata corrected hesitantly, "Besides, if not for Sakura then Naruto-kun would be dead."

"But if Sakura hadn't gone behind all of our backs then-"

"Quiet down! You're arguing isn't going to make this storm go away sooner!" Tenten said to reprimand her fellow kunoichi, "On the bright side, we've taken care of the traitor and Naruto's going to make a full recovery."

"More than one person is responsible for the current situation. But I say that we cool it down until Naruto heals." Shikamaru stated to the group, "We should've came to our conclusion a long time ago and included Naruto from the start...he's the one whose been most affected by everything Sasuke's done after all."

"Isn't that why Sakura was supposed to be out here?"

"Is that you're all here? To make sure I didn't fuck it up?"

"Actually, we're here on Tsunade's orders." Neji answered to Sakura's tearful joy and relief, "She's still under medical watch, but she's alive. We informed her about the situation with Danzo becoming temporary hokage and she was...pissed to say the least."

"We were sent to find reinforce Naruto in whatever he was doing, " Shikamaru added and then lazily nodded to Konohamaru, "The kid followed us and if he's good enough to stay undetected until we were halfway here...he might as well make himself useful."

"We were all genin once, remember?" Yamato inquired when he stepped in from outside, his attire drenched and fairly dirty, "I have good news and bad news friends. The good news is that the storm should let up in less than two days."

"Thanks Tenzo."

"Don't thank me yet, Senpai..." Yamato added and motioned with his thumb towards the surrounding woods, "We're being watched."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**So this story has a mixed reception at the moment.**

**That's fine, considering my mixed views on Naruto. But I'll admit that I am annoyed about the accusations of "twisting the facts" to suit my own needs. Perhaps there is some truth to Sakura's confession, but the way that she worded and everyone's in-story response just makes it seem like it was fake. Not to mention the observation and later confirmation that Sakura still loves Sasuke. I didn't make any of that stuff up. It is all in the manga.**

**But as pointed out in this story, that's not the biggest issue. It's just a symptom of Sakura's impulsive immaturity that Naruto just got fed up with dealing with. The confession was meant to bring Naruto home when she could have just told him about the K-11's conviction to kill Sasuke. Then she leaves and drags Kiba and Lee with her to take down Sasuke themselves when there's no way in hell that they would stand a chance against Sasuke if he had been at full strength. She then gasses them because she has to take care of Sasuke herself.**

**Look how well that turned out.**

**Again, it's all in the manga. The manga still applies up to where Naruto clashes with Sasuke. The thing that I've diverged is that Naruto sensibly uses the Wind Release: Rasengan with clear and present results.**

**So there. I'm not going out of my way to bash Sakura, she just keeps throwing shit in my way that's too huge to ignore. That said, I will have Naruto and Sakura eventually reconcile and become friends again. But only after both have gone through some serious mental and emotional self-examination which they really need. There's a difference between being critical of a character and blind bashing and I've done enough homework to know that it's not the latter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Copyright: Take what you will from this, but I own nothing...sadly...**

* * *

"It's been raining non-stop for the past two days."

"Sorry senpai...I might have missed a day or so..." Yamato apologized as he and Kakashi watched the chakra-enriched storm continue without any sign of weakening, "But I'm very certain that it should weaken by tomorrow evening."

"Good, we can deal with our intruders under nightfall." Kakashi's eye scanned the surrounding woods though the thick rain fall made it impossible to spot anything without uncovering his Sharingan, "How can they move in this condition anyway?"

"A puppet." Yamato answered, holding up a severed constructed arm, "Likely a Ronin band supplemented by Missing-Nin. Since this is neutral ground, the Land of Iron can have pockets of missing-nin congregate here and go into hiding within the border lands."

"Normally they're rooted out by the Iron Samurai. Which means that the situation at the Summit must have increased security and drew away patrols from the borders," Kakashi added while examining the puppet, "We have an Iwa Puppet user. He must have used it as surveillance while hiding in the ground or a rock...where did you encounter the puppet?"

"I was on watch and used my Mokuton to examine the trees for past weather patterns to predict this one." Yamato explained, "Then a hand reached out of the ground and grabbed me, so I grabbed him instead. This was all that I got though."

"Then they've been following us at least since the Bridge." Kakashi figured though he internally suspected being monitored earlier given that they were dealing with Madara, "Your seals are keeping them from finding us with Sensor techniques, but once the storm dies down, they'll make their move."

"They'll need an army if they really want us."

"Tenzo...what did I tell you about tempting fate?"

* * *

_"You don't have to shoulder such a heavy burden yourself."_

"What burden? All I've done is put it on Naruto..." Sakura sat in her room, listening to the others chat about the weather in the living room. But she remained here, it was the only place that felt safe now.

Every time the others looked at her, it seemed like they wanted to kill her.

Her sensei had taught her about the five stages of grief that a patient endures when they were told that they'd die. In fact, Tsunade believed that the cycle could be applied to any form of grief though some move faster through some stages and linger on others for the rest of their life. Tsunade herself admitted to being trapped on the Depression stage after her younger brother and latter her lover had died.

Sakura herself felt as though she were in the Bargaining stage.

There was no point in denying her mistakes...the lie she told Naruto to help him, but it only hurt him; taking the burden of Sasuke on herself and failing miserably with others suffering needlessly; and how Naruto nearly died because of her failure. She had no one to be angry with but herself and just left bargaining. She just wanted a chance to make things right Naruto and the others.

Even if it meant she would no longer be their friend.

"Sakura?" Sakura heard a knock at the door and recognized the voice as the last that she'd wanted to hear at that moment, "Can I come in?"

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you Sakura...please."

"Alright..." Sakura bit her lip as she opened the door for Hinata Hyuga, "You hear to yell at me too?"

"What good what that do?"

"Good enough." Sakura decided and let the girl in, closing the door behind her and turned to face Hinata, "What do you want?"

"To thank you." Sakura gasped in utter shock when Hinata curtly bowed in the medic-nin's direction, "For saving Naruto's life."

"Don't thank me Hinata...I don't deserve it."

"Whether you deserve it or not, you have my gratitude." Hinata told her, "Why are you locking yourself in your room like this? You've barely eaten or talked to anyone."

"You know why. They hate me...everyone hates me."

"They hate what you did..."

"That I've been a useless load like I always am..."

"If that were true then Naruto would be dead."

"Maybe...but I'm wondering if I ever should've been a shinobi..." Sakura admitted and sat upon her mattress, "At least I shouldn't have been in Team 7 and maybe none of this would have happened."

"Stop it Sakura...you're blaming yourself for things that you couldn't control." Hinata told her as she sat down next to the medic-nin, "It's not your fault that Sasuke betrayed the village or continued down a path that you could not follow him on."

"But if I had been stronger, he would've never had to leave..." Sakura told her classmate, "From the start I was just a stupid fangirl who thought she was too smart to see how weak she was. Naruto was an idiot and the dead-last, but he was the better shinobi by a milestone. Me? All I did was stay back and left the burdens to them...when I should've been on their side from the start instead of looking at their backs. If I had been at their side then I could've pushed Sasuke to stay...he never would've wanted to leave because we would've helped each other become strong like the other teams have done."

"But I couldn't do that because I was weak. When Sasuke left, it was too late...no matter how strong I became, there would always be a valley between us. But Naruto...he kept getting stronger and made a decision...unlike me..." Sakura continued, "I'm supposed to be kunoichi, but all I do is rely on Naruto for everything. Then the one time I wanted to take the burden I pushed on him onto myself...I choked and I hurt him."

"Naruto's tough and I'm sure he understands."

"I didn't mean to hurt him."

"We know Sakura-"

"Why can't I do anything right?" Sakura sobbed as she felt Hinata embrace her, "Back when we were kids, I always acted like I was better than Naruto and was Sasuke's equal. But it was all empty words. I was so far behind both of them that it's hilarious...the only reason that we made it through the Exams was because of them...while I rode on their backs...a useless burden."

"Neji told me about how you defended them from the Oto shinobi-"

"I bit one of them...give me a medal!" Sakura sarcastically laughed, "Lee, Ino's team and Sasuke were the ones who saved us. All I did was cut my hair and bit them. Even after that, Naruto was the one who got us the next scroll. The only reason that I didn't lose to Ino was because of Naruto's encouragement. What did I do after that? Cry like a useless little girl...I didn't even try to seriously stop Sasuke."

"When Naruto came back from the Retrieval Mission, that was the last straw. I realized that I couldn't rely on others to do things for me, so I acted." "I trained for two and half years under Tsunade-sama, hoping that when Naruto returned, he and I could find Sasuke together and bring him home, side by side."

"When I learned that Sasuke had been labeled as a missing-nin by Danzo...about all of the things that he had done...how Naruto's feelings for me were hurting him...I don't know, I shut down." Sakura shivered, recalling the moment that Sai had told her that Naruto loved her and that love was hurting him, "I was ashamed Hinata...because I didn't deserve his love. Not after everything that I had done and now, he finally agrees with me. I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and look how well it turned out...Naruto was forced to kill Sasuke and almost died from my poison and I betrayed everyone by lying and going behind all of your backs. I'm surprised that you're even speaking to me Hinata..."

"So am I to be honest." Sakura squeezed her eyes closed and was reminded of her quiet offense against Hinata, "What you did was stupid and wrong Sakura...when I saw Naruto-kun suffering and as a result of your poison...I was ready to kill you."

"I see..."

"But when I saw how hard that you worked to save Naruto-kun, I realized that you hadn't meant it. You just made a mistake...you just failed."

"You're really blunt..."

"But how can you succeed without failing?" Hinata gently asked, "Making a mistake doesn't make you a horrible person, Sakura...it just makes you a person who made a mistake. But you can always make up for it...you can still make things right with Naruto-kun."

"He doesn't even want to see me right now..."

"It may take time, but you know how Naruto is. He's always been able to make enemies into friends, so of course he'll forgive you. You just need to give him space, give him time to think over things. A lot will be different now that Sasuke is dead."

"Yeah..." Why was she still remorseful when she thought about her late fallen comrade? Was she truly so weak as to still have loved him? Or was it pity that she felt, "Thanks for listening Hinata..."

"Anytime..." Hinata released her embrace and stood up with her back to Sakura, "I have one more question."

"What is it?"

"When you told him that you loved him...did you mean it?"

"No I didn't." Sakura admitted to herself and the girl who'd nearly died for Naruto. As much as she truly cared for Naruto and how much she knew Naruto cared for her, she knew that she didn't feel the same no matter how much he should have earned it, "Maybe I'd seen him for who he truly was before...I would have, but I was blind."

"If you did love him...I wouldn't get in your way-"

"No...I don't deserve him, not after this...maybe I never did." Sakura affirmed to a surprised Hinata, "I know that you'll never hurt him like I did."

"I hope not."

* * *

_"As you inherited the Will of Fire, Sasuke has inherited the Curse of Hatred."_

_"Guess I had to die, didn't I teme?" Naruto found himself facing Sasuke, who wore a vacant expression in his empty eyes, blood gushing from the hole that was in his chest. "It was fate. I was destined to be an avenger and you were meant to be the guardian in my path."_

_"Fate my ass! You choose your path!"_

_"So did you." He turned and saw a tearful Sakura staring upon him, "You choose to kill him. You had to be one to pursue him and tried to save him...even if it meant abandoning everyone else."_

_"I didn't want to abandon anyone!"_

_"What about me?" Naruto looked down at his feet to see Hinata looking up at him, her torn body leaving a crimson trail in the blackness, "I gave my life to protect you and I loved you. Do I matter to you? Did you even weep for me? But you weep for a traitor!"_

_"Hinata!" Naruto knelt down, but coils of black sludge wrapped around the girl and pulled her into the floor, "NO!"_

_"You wanted to keep everything and then you lose it..." Shikamaru laughed, his face heavily emancipated and frail, "You're so indecisive Naruto...it's getting to be more troublesome for the rest of us."_

_"The more you tighten your grip on sand." Now Gaara stood as pale as he was after Akatsuki extracted the Shukaku from him and killed him. He reached out his hand, clutching a mound of sand which quickly flowed from his grip, "The more that it slips through your fingers."_

_"If you don't share someone's pain, you can never understand them." A wizened Nagato spoke with the six paths of pain flanking his throne of torment, "But just because you understand them doesn't mean you can come to an agreement. That's the truth."_

_"Shut up...I did what I had to do!" Naruto's hands gripped onto his head, trying in vain to keep out the voices that surrounded him, "All of you...leave me alone!"_

_"You're not hurt are you?" Now he faced his own reflection save that it had black eyes with red hate-filled pupils. The reflection laughed and spoke with a voice that sounded like both the Kyubi and his own, "Little girl?"_

"Boss!" Feeling a sting on his face, Naruto shot awake with a happy spiky haired boy seated next to him happily, "How are you gonna be hokage by sleeping for so long?"

"Konohamaru?" The boy nodded with a wide grin as Naruto pat his unofficial protege on the head, "Shouldn't you be back at Konoha?"

"I came here with Neji's group."

"Neji?"

"Yeah! Neji, The bun-girl, the big guy, the smoking smartass, the bug guy, the blond girl and Neji's cousin."

"Hinata..." As mad as he was about Sakura toying his feelings, maybe he wasn't much better, "What are they doing here?"

"Your baa-chan sent them."

"Baa-chan's okay?" Naruto asked while the boy confirmed his rising hopes, "Good...I'm glad she's awake."

"I heard that she was still being looked after though..."

"Understandable considering what happened..." Naruto still remembered her drained appearance after Pain's assault took it's toll on her chakra, "But you all came out here for me?"

"To protect you from Danzo..." Now Konohamaru seemed saddened by the mention of the man's name which puzzled Naruto, "He's gone isn't he?"

"Sasuke killed him..."

"I know he wasn't a good person...but he was grandpa's friend and...my mom's dad."

"What? Danzo was your grandpa?" Konohamaru quietly nodded as Naruto placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Konohamaru...I'm really sorry."

"Since him and grandpa weren't getting along, I didn't really talk to Danzo a lot...I do remember that he made funny faces and helped train me. He said that he'd help me become a splendid hokage," Konohamaru recounted as Naruto listened on, gaining a picture into a man that he thought no one would ever miss, "But we got into a fight over you...I didn't want to be hokage until after you did and he said Naruto would never be hokage."

"What did you say?"

"I said Naruto was a brave and strong like my grandpa. He called you both stupid and told him that grandpa died protecting the village while he hid like a weak coward."

"Did he take it well?"

"He hit me across the room and that was the last time I ever talked to him." Kono replied, "I hated him after that...I hated him even more when he was gonna be hokage without earning it like Tsunade and grandpa did. But I'm still sad that he's dead...I guess I am an idiot."

"No you're not. You didn't like what he did, but you still loved him." Naruto assured the weeping boy, "It takes a lot of guts to care about someone even though you don't like them or what they've done."

"People called you a coward for not wanting to kill Sasuke."

"Maybe they were right...both Danzo and Sasuke were bad people and I don't regret that they're gone." Naruto told the boy, stunning even himself with his next words, "But after I killed Sasuke...it hurt...it still hurts because he was my friend...my comrade...my brother. What had to be done had to be done, but that doesn't change how I cared about him. In fact, it just means that we're not monsters."

"Like Akatsuki? The guys that killed my uncle and wrecked the village?"

"Most of them are monsters, but not all of them...at least they weren't always monsters." Naruto figured that it wouldn't be smart to try and tell Nagato's story so soon after he had demolished Konoha, "Neither were Sasuke and Danzo...it's just that they saw things in their life that changed them. Things that made them choose to become monsters...in fact, I guess we're all one step away from being a monster ourselves."

"The hell kind of talk is that?"

"I've been thinking a lot...and it seems like the only thing that sets us apart from monsters is a bad day..." Naruto said to the perplexed yet listening Sarutobi, "Sasuke had a bad day and it drove him to get revenge. A lot of people in Akatsuki had bad days and now they're trying to take over the world. Danzo probably had a bad day and it made him the way he was. I met a Kiri shinobi named Zabuza who'd killed everyone in his class to become a chunin."

"Did he have a bad day?"

"Think so...or maybe it's more than having a bad day..." Naruto now thought about Gaara and how he tread a path that Naruto himself was close to following at one point in his life, "I had a bad day too...and if I hadn't had Iruka-sensei or you to keep me grounded...I would've become a monster myself."

"Cause of the kyubi?" Konohamaru stunned Naruto again and the knuckle-head ninja became a little afraid, "Danzo told me about it...he said that the village should never be led by a monster."

"Konohamaru-"

"But you're not a monster boss...you said that yourself." Konohmaru assured his boss with a determined gaze, "And if you're too slow, I'm gonna beat you to the hokage's hat!"

"Keep dreaming, you're gonna have to wait in line." Naruto told the boy while both smirked, reaffirmed in the bond that had strengthened for the past four years, "Where's everyone?"

"Waiting on you."

"Don't wanna bore them, don't I?"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Right as the storm is about to die down, an enemy waits to strike. Sakura finds a shoulder to cry on and Naruto gets to see his unofficial protege in a new light. How will his recent choice affect Naruto's disposition? Will he and Sakura be able to reconcile and will things be the same between them now that Sasuke is gone? What will Naruto tell the rest of the Konoha 12?**

**Stay tuned.**

**Also for simplicity's sake, I'm adding Sai to the Konoha 11 to turn them into the Konoha 12. He's clearly earned it.**

**Furthermore, I've decided not to change the filters and if you don't like me being critical of a character then you don't have to read the story any further. I've even altered the filters so that Sakura is still a main character, but maybe that should give you an idea of what you're dealing with going in. **

**Again, I will remind readers that there is a huge difference between blind bashing and a critical analysis. Can't tell the difference? That's your problem.**

**Later.**


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